Saturday, March 9, 2013

-- It's not official, but it appears the 49ers will be the ninth seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament next week in Brooklyn, N.Y., and play Richmond (18-13, 8-8) at noon Thursday. The Spiders beat the 49ers 81-61 in January in the Robins Center, when Darien Brothers scored 39 points on 8-of-11 3-point shooting.

-- Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli seemed completely embarrassed by his team's performance, which included 29.2 percent shooting, four assists and being outrebounded 42-30. The 40 points scored was the Hawks' lowest since 2007. But Charlotte's defense had something to do with that, too. It's the kind of physical, disruptive defense the 49ers played early in the season, remember?

-- The 49ers haven't exactly blasted their way out of that slump that included six losses in seven games. But in beating last-place Duquesne in overtime then getting past Saint Joseph's, the 49ers did what they had to do to make the tournament: Win two games that they needed to win, and not rely on someone else's misfortune to do so.

-- That said, remember a few weeks ago when the tournament bubble the 49ers were on was the NCAA's, not the Atlantic 10's.

-- Great moment at the end of the game when Colby Lewis nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The assist came from Pierria Henry, who credited Lewis with great leadership and mentorship over his time in the program.

-- Willie Clayton had his best offensive game in a while, scoring 12 points on six of eight shooting. Clayton consistently posted up effectively against the Hawks big guys. Martelli said Charlotte's entry passing "is to be emulated."

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comments:

We've set the bar so low on expectations that we are excited that we made the A-10 Tourney. How sad is that? How sad is watching a game that matters and see a collective 92 points? They fought hard. Big deal. They did not beat anyone of merit other than Butler, maybe pesky, little, cerebral Davidson. So sad.

They've already locked up an NIT bid. They deserve it anyway, despite the stumbling finish. They need to beat Richmond for the sanity of the program. Both Chas. Southern and Northeastern are a win away from NCAA bids, so those are good wins. Road wins at Davidson and Butler (two more NCAA teams) and the fact that they have the h:h wins over UMass, Xavier, and Lasalle and it is hard to exclude them. In fact, getting to the A-10 final puts the NCAA back into play as well. I think they have a favorable bracket. But o they care to win?

True the Niners didn't beat any big names other than Butler, but Xavier, Mass and LaSalle were all quality wins. Northeastern plays for CAA title tomorrow and Niners dumped them hard in Alaska, where Belmont also played but lost prior to Niners. When all is said and done Niners are likely to have wins over 5-6 NCAA clubs. And avoided the trip ups in non conference which were a hallmark of Niner hoops several years back. Finished in 13th in Majors first year. Then 11th and 8th with 20 wins. That is progress that a lot of schools would take.

Niners should feel good about earning trip yesterday and not backing into it. One of the youngest teams in NCAA. Freshmen and sophs are really talented. I came back on board this year as a season ticket holder and I would renew today.

The 49ers finished higher in the A10 Lutz's final year than they have any year under Major and Major inherited some good players from that team. I don't see what is so great about finishing 13th, 11th, and 9th in the league the past 3 years. It may be progress but it is still worse than we were before Major took over.

I remember in the 90s, Sports Illustrated ranked the top 100 NCAA basketball programs (overall, not season) and the Niners were 63. We are light years below that now. Very sad as a green jacket donor.

To above person who said "we are talented", it requires talent on both sides of the floor. We manhandle opposition on defense but score like A soccer team. And that's with triple teams on Braswell. Next yr we will be lucky to avg 40ppg.

Thats right - the 49ers did what he needed to do! Lutz always played to the level of his competition. Now we beat the teams we should beat. 20 WINS! Major just needed time to learn! How would you feel if you were given your dream job and not given time to learn or set things in place? Give him 4 more years and he can be just as good as Tom Crean or Dean Smith. Now its time to make a run in the Brooklyn and get back to the NCAA!!GO NINERS!

That's the pipe dream of all-time. Dean Smith? Tom Crean? If he's that good, he'll be gone and who is knocking on his door? How many coaches have gone from 10 to 13 to 20 wins and not be considered a riser? Alan. That's who.

How do you know Major isnt considering other jobs already????? He should and leave you 40-Whiner brats behind! But this is his dream job! Give him 4 more years and see if we arnt cutting down the nets for a National Championship!

Don't they usually let the team that wins the Nationalship, cut down their own nets ?!?!?I'll just be happy if we put a team on the floor that looks like they know how to play team basketball and give themselves a legitimate chance to win each night the play!If someone steps up next year and plays like Braswell is "capable" of doing, I think we'll have a great team, with the years experience on these younger players and a "hungry" Shawn Lester coming in.

Anybody that wants Majors fired is either a RACIST or ignorent about what it takes to build a program! But dont worry...Major will be here for a loooooooong time. So you can go on ahead and root for the tarheels or NCSU. Please and Thank you!!! We dont need you as fans! HATERS!!